Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Much of the big news today is a continuation of stories that have held our attention for the last few weeks. The Occupiers in New York got the boot - at least their tents did. And critics of the movement are getting in their jabs as the NYC protest site loses its high visibility. Here in North Carolina, the conservative John Locke Foundation's John Hood had some pointed things to say in a column today: " The suddenly inconvenient fact, you see, is that the Occupy movement was a creation of freaks, socialists, and assorted nincompoops. Some of us recognized this fact from the beginning. We’d seen it reflected in the anti-republican rhetoric of “occupation” and the anti-libertarian tactics employed by those who sought not simply to argue their point of view but to shut up those who disagree."

On the Penn State front, Mike McQueary, who we took to task for not going to the police after seeing Jerry Sandusky sexually assault a boy at the school, is reportedly saying he did indeed go to the police. The Washington Post reported that McQueary, who was a graduate assistant but is a receivers coach now, e-mailed a friend, according to the Associated Press, that he stopped the assault and went to police. The e-mail, dated Nov. 8 and written from McQueary’s Penn State account, was given to the AP by the friend. “I am getting hammered for handling this the right way ... or what I thought at the time was right,” McQueary wrote. “I had to make tough impacting quick decisions.”On Monday, he e-mailed ex-teammates. “I did the right thing,” McQueary wrote, according to NBC’s Peter Alexander. “. . . you guys know me . . . the truth is not out there fully . . . I didn’t just turn and run. . . . I made sure it stopped . . . I had to make quick tough decisions . . . ”If he did, good for him. But the next question is - what did police? Clearly not enough was done since Sandusky's alleged behavior continued. Who dropped the ball ?

In some new news, an interesting report concludes that people are looking for a place to live, rather than a place to work. States that have experienced employment losses since the Great Recession started are still growing in population. The fastest population growth was in the South and West, continuing a long-term migration trend out of the Northeast and Midwest. Adding to the population growth of the top ten states was the influx of immigrants, both documented and undocumented.

The true freaks are the ones who look at the way our system is rigged in favor of the ultra-rich and say, "Thank you sir, may I have another?" The top 1% have played you for fools. Their income and their share of wealth has exploded in the past decade, as they received unprecedented tax cuts during WARTIME and utterly failed to deliver jobs despite bestowing the laughable "job creators" title upon themselves. Go right ahead and dismiss the OWS folks; at least they aren't rubes who've been duped into voting against their own economic interests and gleefully accepting ever-declining middle class wages.

Nobody cares but the media. They are freaks, socialist and homeless. Are you going to deny that ACORN actually PAID homeless people $10/hr to join the protests? Unions, anarchists, far left loons and paid protestors. And you write about it every day in support.

Much of what the movement is about can be seen in today's events in New York. In spite of the rhetoric about opposing "the 1%", todays plan is directed squarely at ordinary middle class people. Donald Trump is not inconvenienced by people attempting to overwhelm the sidewalks with thousands of protesters. People going to their jobs in very ordinary service and labor jobs are the only ones who will be. Tonight's effort to paralyze the subway system is not going to create even a moment's problem for someone in a limo, but it will keep ordinary, middle class people from getting home at the end of their workday. Shutting down traffic on the Brooklyn bridge won't be noticed by folks who commute home from the heliport, but middle class Brooklyn residents trying to get home, and delivery drivers trying to get their day over, will be made miserable.

So why would the DO that? Because their ideas out in the public sphere -where they have been for a very long time- do not seem to most folks as workable and so are rejected. Sure many if not most people are frustrated with the economy and government these days, and polls show that as a result there is much general sympathy with the Occupiers' frustration, but there is no sympathy with their prescriptions for society, which range from the bizarre to the juvenile to the simple-minded.

Because most ordinary middle class folks would rather work and try to get ahead than tilt at windmill, the protesters get in the face of ordinary people to INSIST that everyone believe as they believe. It's nothing less than an effort at DEMANDING attention and respect that their message and tactics can't obtain.

In that sense, most of us have seen this behavior before: very small children behave in exactly the same manner. Most pareents successfully get their kids over that stage of life, and by the time we see them off to adulthood, they have at least the humility to understand that when others don't acquiesce to their wants, the problem isn't one solved by a tantrum. The occupiers are throwing a tantrum today in NY, and sadly they likely don't even realize it.

About this blog

The Observer's editorial board cares deeply about Charlotte and the Carolinas, and has a problem with public officials who have forgotten that they report to citizens. Editorial page editor Taylor Batten and associate editors Peter St. Onge and Eric Frazier tackle politics and public policy issues locally, across the state and nation. Kevin Siers tackles those issues too in cartoons. Read their columns and biographical information on the CharlotteObserver.com Opinion page.